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Rhee Proposes Parent Academy, Better Security
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Schools that consistently fail to meet academic targets during the next three years also face possible closure. "We will close schools if they fail to show progress despite our efforts at aggressive improvement," the plan says.
The administration will also move to "reconstitute" as many as 13 schools subject to restructuring under the No Child Left Behind law, requiring all staff to reapply for jobs and limiting the percentage who may return. Other schools could be placed in the hands of private operators or reopened as charter schools.
The draft is silent about other options under discussion, including seeking legislation that would allow the city to create its own non-union charter schools or declare the school system in a "state of emergency." Such measures could release the District from its obligation to bargain with the Washington Teachers' Union. The District and the union have spent the past year trying to negotiate a new contract, but talks are stalled over Rhee's proposal to weaken tenure protections in exchange for large salary increases and bonuses.
The report also addresses at length the issue of parent involvement and is at one point bluntly critical of families for accepting, even supporting, mediocre schools.
"Too many of our students' parents are uninformed consumers of public education who blindly support the District's public schools without full knowledge of the significant deficiencies of the schools," the document says.
It proposes outreach measures, including information and training sessions, covering everything from adult literacy to parenting skills. The plan raises the idea of collaborating with other community-based organizations to open a "Parent Academy" that would teach parents "the full set of basic skills necessary to be a successful participant" in their child's education.
Cherita Whiting, chairwoman of the Ward 4 Education Council, said such an idea might be useful but wondered whose idea of effective advocacy would be taught in such settings. If it were D.C. school administrators', she said, that would be a problem.
"Are they going to teach how to look for what the chancellor is doing wrong? That's my concern," she said. "Where's the transparency going to come from?"
The plan is available on the school system's Web site. Go to http:/
